HISTORY 141: THE FAMILY AND SEX ROLES IN THE PAST

Syllabus, Fall 2011

https://sites.uwm.edu/margo/files/2016/11/eyck01-15wqvqf.jpg
The course is a world history survey which describes and compares sex roles, family structures and family dynamics across time and place. It counts for General Education (GER) credit in the Social Sciences. The chief requirements of the course consist of attending lectures and discussion sections, and reading and analyzing the course materials. You will have a 6 week examination, an 11 week examination, a comprehensive final, and a grade for attendance and participation in your lecture and discussion section. They will be weighted as 20%, 20%, 35% and 25% respectively. Pluses and minuses will be used in awarding final grades. Make-up exams are only given in emergency situations such as severe illness. The instructor or teaching assistant must be notified prior to the exam.

If you are a student with a disability, please feel free to contact us early in the semester for any help or accommodation you may need. For relevant campus instructional policies on grading, appeals, holidays, etc. click here

  1. Instructor: Dr. Margo Anderson, margo@uwm.edu
  2. Teaching Assistant: Jacob Glicklich glickli2@uwm.edu. Office hours: Tuesday, 9:30-10:00 AM and 1:30-3:00 PM, Holton 280.
  3. Texts:
    • Required books are available at Panther Books. They are also on reserve in the Library.
    • Peter Stearns, Gender in World History, 2d ed., Routledge 2006
    • Jonathan Spence, The Death of Woman Wang. Penguin, 1978.
    • Deborah Gray White, Ar’n’t I a Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South, rev. ed., Norton, 1999.
    • Beth Bailey, From Front Porch to Back Seat: Courtship in Twentieth-Century America. Johns Hopkins, 1989.
  4. Other Texts: You will also read several short texts on the World Wide Web, or on Reserve in the Library. The web addresses are given in the syllabus. We will also view several videos during the semester.
  5. Classrooms: MW 2:00 – 2:50 PM; SAB G90
  6. Contacting me:
  7. Office Location and Hours: Holton 320, MW 3-4PM and by appointment.
  8. Class website address: https://sites.uwm.edu/margo/history-141/

Students interested in a major or a minor in history can see me or visit the History Department website, http://www4.uwm.edu/letsci/history/undergrad/ and click on the academic advising link.

Discussion Topics, Assignments, and Due Dates

Week Date Topic and Assignment
1 Sept 7 Introduction: Human Origins, Prehistory; Theories of the Family and Patriarchy; Email accounts, using the World Wide Web. Read: Stearns, Introduction and Chapter 1, pp. 1-19.
PRE-LITERATE SOCIETIES AND ANTIQUITY
2 Sept 12-14 Legal Codes and Creation Stories. Kinship Systems, Female Status; Judaic-Christian Tradition.Read: Stearns, Part I Intro and chs. 2-3, pp. 21-42; Code of Hammurabi, Genesis.
3 Sept 19-21 Ancient Greece and Rome and the Emergence of Christianity.Read: Cantarella, pp. 17-53 (E Reserve); Brown, pp. 17-25; 44-57 (E Reserve). Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians; St. Augustine, City of God (excerpt)
THE MEDIEVAL WEST
4 Sept 26-28 Roman, Gothic and Canon Law on kinship and marriage, Barbarian World; Feudalism. Read: Herlihy, ch. 2, pp. 29-55 (E Reserve); Brundage, pp. 124-75 (E Reserve). Documents on Roman and Barbarian Life.
5 Oct 3-5 Medieval world to the Black Death.Read: Stearns, pp. 43-61; Stone, ch. 2, Demographic Facts
(Reserve).
THE EARLY MODERN WORLD
6 Oct 10-12 Medieval to Modern. Modernization theory and the family. EXAMINATION – Oct 10. Read: Stearns, pp. 63-79; Spence, Preface and ch. 1, pp. xi-32.
EASTERN SOCIETIES AND TRADITIONAL CHINA
7 Oct 17-19 Eastern Religions and gender roles. The Chinese family and kinship; Problems of Widows and Family Feuds. Read: Spence, Preface, chs. 2-4, pp. 33-98; Stearns, pp. 80-94.
8 Oct 24-26 Female Status in China. Read: Spence, ch. 5-epilog, pp. 99-139. Video: VHS0386 Small Happiness
THE FAMILY AND THE TRANSITION TO MODERN SOCIETY
9 Oct 31- Nov 2 Early Modern to Modern. Sexual Issues in Early Modern Europe. Read: Stearns, chs. 8-9, pp. 95-118; Stone, pp. 340-81 (skim); Akers, chs. 1-3, pp. 1-52
(Reserve); White, Intro, pp. 13-25.
10 Nov 7-9 Demographic transition and political and sexual revolution. Correspondence between Abigail and John Adams; Declaration of Independence.
Read Akers, chs. 4-6, pp. 53-104
(Reserve); White, chs. 1-2, pp. 27-91.
RECENT CHANGES IN THE FAMILY AND SEX ROLES
11 Nov 14-16 American demographic trends; the Revolution, republicanism and family and sex roles. EXAMINATION – Nov. 14. Read: White, 91-150.
12 Nov 21 Slavery and family and sex roles; Suffrage and women’s rights. Fordism, The Five Dollar Day and American Working Class Manhood. Read: White, 151-190.
Declaration of Sentiments.
13 Nov 28-30 Women and World War II. Video: VHS2084 The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter. Read: Stearns, 119-147; Bailey, pp. 1-76.
14 Dec 5-7 Sexual Revolution. Video:VHS3097 Burning Desire. Read: Stearns, chs. 12-14 and conclusion, pp. 148-176; Bailey, pp. 77-143.
15 Dec 12-14 The Family, Social Policy and Globalization. Conclusions.
Dec 21 FINAL EXAMINATION: Wednesday. 12:30-2:30PM